World

Tiffany Abreu was the first transgender woman to play in Brazil’s best female volleyball league, and she’s now running for Congress.

Her campaign slogan “Why Not?” is directed at those who believe a trans person can’t serve on the highest legislative body. But she’s not alone — 53 other trans candidates are running for state legislatures and Congress this year, which is ten times the amount that ran during the 2014 election.

"I don't want my nieces and nephews, or any young people in Brazil, to go through what I went through. People like me need to occupy spaces in national politics in order to govern in LGBT people's interests and also to reverse the stigma about trans people,” she said to the BBC.

Abreu is running with the ruling conservative Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, where she believes she can make the most difference because they hold the most Congressional seats. If she wins, her first move is to pass a law requiring every police station to have a female police officer trained to deal with violence toward LGBT people and women.